152 



HORTICULTURE 



August 16, 1919 



CYPRESS GREENHOUSE STOCK 



PECKY CYPRESS STOCK 



HOT BED SASH 



Aak for Circular D and Prices 



THE A. T. STEARNS LUMBER COMPANY 



NEPONSET, BOSTON 



DREER'S "Riverton Special" Plant Tubs 



No. Dlam. Ea. Doz. 100 

 10 20 In. $3.25 $37.60 J287.50 

 20 18 In. 2.75 30.00 237.50 

 30 10 In. 2.25 26.00 195.00 



f40 14 in. 1.90 22.00 168.75 

 50 12 In. 1.50 15.00 110.00 

 60 10 in. .95 10.50 77.5» 

 70 8 In. .75 8.25 82.60 

 lne KlT«rtou Tab !■ iold exclusively by an, and is the best ever Introduced. 

 The neatest, lightest, and cheapest. Painted green and bound with electric-welded 

 hoops. The four largest sizes are equipped with drop handles. 



HENRY A. DREER, »»Js, plants, Buths and smipii.s. 714-716 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



nice 





USE OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZ- 

 ERS IN GROWING CARNA- 

 TIONS. 



The Illinois Agricultural Experiment 

 Station has investigated the feasibility 

 of using commercial fertilizers en- 

 tirely or partially as a source of plant 

 food in the production of carnations, 

 with the intention of finding out: (1) 

 ■Which of the fertilizers dried blood, 

 acid phosphate, and potassium sul- 

 fate, or what combination of them, is 

 most profitable for this purpose; and 

 (2) the comparative production and 

 quality of carnations grown entirely 

 with farmyard manure and those 

 grown with commercial fertilizers as 

 a supplement to a smaller amount of 

 manure. In the first experiment the 

 benches of a house 28 feet by 100 feet 

 were divided into 6-foot sections of 

 twenty-four plants each. These 

 benches were filled with brown silt 

 loam, the soil characteristic to this 

 part of the state, fertilized with cow 

 manure at the rate of about 22 tons 

 per acre. In addition to the manure 

 some combination of the fertilizers 

 named above was also applied. 



The varieties White Perfection, En- 

 chantress, Beacon were used. Records 

 were kept on the following points: 



1. Number of flowers. 



2. Condition of the calyx. 



3. Size of the flower. 



4. Length of the stem. 



5. Stem strength (1911-13 only). 



6. Condition of the flower. 



The extent of the experiment may be 

 judged from the fact that during the 

 three years 5,568 plants were grown, 



producing during the seven-month 

 periods (October to April inclusive) 

 when records were taken, 81,990 

 flowers. 



In the second experiment compara- 

 tive records were taken during a 

 period of seven months, for two suc- 

 cessive years, upon plants grown with 

 farmyard manure and others grown 

 with manure and moderate quantities 

 of commercial fertilizers. Where 

 farmyard manure was used exclu- 

 sively, an application at the rate of 

 some 60 tons per acre at the time of 

 setting in the plants was supple- 

 mented during the season with 

 mulches of sheep manure, and with 

 waterings of liquid cow manure 

 about every two weeks. 



Where commercial fertilizers were 

 used, the original application of 

 manure was made at the rate of about 

 22 tons per acre, in connection with 

 an application of 2 pounds of dried 

 blood per 100 square feet of bench 

 space and 2 pounds each of acid 

 phosphate and potassium sulfate. 

 Further applications of dried blood at 

 the same rate were made as top- 

 dressings lightly worked into the soil, 

 on November 1, December 21, and 

 February 13. 



Records were kept as in the previ- 

 ous experiment. During the two years, 

 in which this experiment was con- 

 ducted, 1056 plants were grown, pro- 

 ducing 16,094 flowers during the 

 seven-month periods when records 

 were taken. 



In the first experiment applications 

 of dried blood in moderate quantities 

 resulted in an increased production of 

 flowers, with, however, a slight de- 



crease In their size and the length of 

 their stems. The small applications 

 of acid phosphate and those of potas- 

 sium sulfate produced no consistent 

 results. Larger applications of acid 

 phosphate, with a moderate quantity 

 of dried blood, caused an increase in 

 production of flowers, and an improve- 

 ment in their quality. Large quan- 

 tities of dried blood and potassium 

 sulfate caused injury from overfeed- 

 ing, that from potassium sulfate 

 being especially marked and per- 

 sistent. 



The second experiment showed that 

 a moderate use of commercial fertiliz- 

 ers in addition to about one-third the 

 manure ordinarily used, and followed 

 only by three top-dressings of dried 

 blood, produces as large a number of 

 flowers as is produced by culture with 

 manure alone. The quality, measured 

 by width of flower, length of stem, 

 percentage of flowers with perfect 

 calyces, and keeping quality was 

 equally satisfactory with either 

 method of culture. The time of maxi- 

 mum crop production was found to be 

 practically uninfluenced by the kind 

 of fertilizer applied and by its time 

 of application. 



Comparative experiments with 

 dried blood and ammonium sulfate 

 have shown that either is a satisfac- 

 tory fertilizer if used in moderate 

 quantities. 



MRS. ELLIS ROWAN'S FLOWER 

 AND BIRD PAINTINGS 

 The beautiful collection of Birds 

 of Paradise and tropical flowers from 

 New Guinea, Australia, will only re- 

 main on view for a few days longer 

 at the American Museum of Natural 

 History, 77th street, New York. Mrs. 

 Rowan spent two years amongst the 

 cannibals of New Guinea painting 

 these wonderful birds and flowers 

 from life. The head-hunters caught 

 40 out of 46 known species, and Mrs. 

 Rowan was able to make a unique col- 

 lection of pictures which may not be 

 here again for 100 years. Mrs. 

 Rowan's sister is the Duchess of Buc- 

 cleuch, whose eldest son, the Earl of 

 Dalkeith, was lately reported to be 

 engaged to the Princess Mary, only 

 daughter of the King of England. 



ORCHIDS 



We grow and sell nothing but OBOHIDS. 

 If you are in the market for this dwi «f 

 plants we respectfully solicit your lnqolriee 

 and orders. Special lists on application. 



LAGER & HURRELL,S«immlt,N. A. 



